Aethlon Medical and Delcath Systems have agreed to jointly research and develop a new filtration cartridge for use in Delcath’s percutaneous hepatic perfusion (“PHP”) system.
PHP is a technology designed to isolate and deliver high doses of anti-cancer agents to specific organs, while minimizing harmful drug exposure in the rest of the body.
One of the central problems in using chemotherapy to treat cancer is its harmful effect on organ health. Lower dosages of the drug are often used to limit side effects, which may diminish the benefit of the therapy. Delcath has developed a drug delivery system that isolates the liver from the circulatory system. It allows chemotherapy agents to be administered to the liver and filters those agents from the blood before returning it to general circulation.
The collaboration will allow Delcath to utilize Aethlon’s filtration expertise. Under the terms of the agreement, Aethlon will research and develop a hybrid filter capable of removing traditional anti-cancer agents – as well as newer drug agents that may not be candidates for Delcath’s existing carbon-based filtration technology.
Delcath will fund the initial stage of this collaboration through the purchase of 100,000 Aethlon common shares priced at $1.00 each.
Commenting on the agreement, Richard Taney, President and CEO of Delcath, said, “Recent advances in filtration technologies make this an area of focus for our company as we seek to expand the potential applications for the Delcath System. Activated carbon is a very efficient broad-spectrum filter medium for the majority of anti-cancer agents, but we continue to investigate novel technologies that will enable physicians to use our system with additional drugs.”
Aethlon management has indicated that the Delcath relationship could potentially expand the available therapeutic applications targeted by Aethlon’s Hemopurifier. The device, which resembles a modified kidney dialysis cartridge, is designed to rapidly separate and capture infectious viruses and toxins from circulating blood before the occurrence of cell and organ infection.
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